A stately-looking older gentleman walked into the classroom and introduced himself as the professor. After a terse jaunt through the syllabus, he looked up from the podium suddenly and posed the question: Who here believes that a person can change?
Posts in Spirituality
A Prayer on Martin Luther King Jr. Day: For the Grace to Boldly Work Towards Racial Justice
As we celebrate the life of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., may this prayer, for all those who pray it, be a means to avail ourselves of God’s gracious gift and so “receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).
This Is Why I Dare to Pray
In the last year, a small phrase from the Mass I’d not previously paid much attention to, I learned to love. It is the preface to the Our Father when the priest says, “At the savior’s command and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say…”
I Conquer Evil When I Watch Basketball
When I was in grade school, I forced myself to try out for the basketball team. I never liked basketball, wasn’t particularly fast, couldn’t shoot the ball, and preferred to sit on the bench. But, everyone else was doing it, and their participation convinced me that I needed to join in.
The Day After Christmas I Think about Death
It’s December 26th. The day after Christmas. And, weirdly, while we celebrated a birth yesterday, we remember a death today.
My Chemical Romance and memory in Ignatian spirituality
My Chemical Romance is having a reunion show. That got Jaret Ornelas thinking about the memories he associates with their music. Turns out, they are closely linked to his experiences with the Spiritual Exercises.
I Don’t Want to Brag: What it Means to Boast with God
A poem about the beauty that comes from being broken and the gift of others loving you into existence.
I Love Jesus But Sometimes I Can’t Stand Other Christians
I admit that I struggle with this question, in large part because I struggle with the same thing. And if I am being really honest, I do sometimes lament my fellow Christians whose views and sensibilities – political, theological, and otherwise – diverge so significantly from my own.
Advent Brings Hope, Only After a Sober Look at Our Human Prospects
When I was growing up, my mom used to make a point about switching our normal weekend Mass attendance during Advent from Sunday mornings to Saturday evenings. She would say that there is something about attending Mass in the dark that helps us feel the season of Advent.
A Thanksgiving Prayer When You Dread Going Home
A prayer for those whose Thanksgiving may be rife with stress, anger, and regret.